There is an element of genetic memory involved sometimes, but this is just accumulated practice that transcends generations. It had to start somewhere. If the 10,000 hours doesn't make you the next Mozart, then maybe your offspring or your offspring's offspring will reap the benefits as long as the tradition of practice is maintained.

I wouldn't recommend it as a pad synth, but it's definitely extremely versatile. Absynth performs far better as a pad synth though

FM synthesis is also great for creating more natural sounds. When you play any organic instrument, the vibrations are feeding off each other in a way that is more similar to the way FM synthesis works. Additive and subtractive synthesis will usually give a far more artificial sound.

If you listen to my track 'Yoyo Ma', I made the lead cello sound from scratch in FM8 by accident when I trying to make a bass sound. You'll find with FM synthesis that a lot of the best sounds you make with it will be by accident because of it's unpredictable nature.

Exploration

There's no output without input. You can work all you want but if you're not actively searching for as much external stimuli as possible, your musical range will be limited. This stimuli can be in the form of other music, or even completely unrelated things like going into nature, reading a book, or watching movies. Anything can contribute to your musicality, and enriching your life will tend to enrich your music.

I always use a combination of layered synthesized snares and samples. The synth snare provides more body to sample, as long as you match the pitch envelopes with the pitch modulation of the sample, which requires some practice.

Not that I know of, the programming for such a plugin is quite intense so I don't think any music software developer would give away such a plugin. If there is a free de-clicking plugin I bet you it doesn't work that well.

You can manually go in and get rid of pops and clicks though, my step dad does this to recordings of old vinyls with Audacity which is free.

I use the oxford de-clicker, but it isn't free

Cooking food and producing music are very similar, and I believe improving your cooking skills also improves your producing skills and here's why:

- Shopping for groceries is basically crate digging but for food. It's about finding those ingredients that work well together.

- Preparing the ingredients; chopping, processing, seasoning, marinating. These are all terms which could be applied to sound as well. Marinating in music is sitting on an idea for a while to let your brain pick out what needs changing.

- Seasoning while cooking is like the little touches of processing you add to an already processed sample.

- Timing, arrangement and layering are things you have to consider while cooking and producing music.

- When your dish is finished cooking, or your track is mixed down, you can just throw it in a bowl and eat it. Although if you're serving your dish in a restaurant, or selling your track on physical formats, it is wise to make the presentation look nice, or get your track mastered.


There is so much overlap between producing and cooking that the two definitely compliment each other. I highly recommend cooking as a boost to help you think about producing in a different light.

If there's one thing I've learnt about making music it's not the sound design or the music or the marketting, its about the idea of what it means to be a human being. I was lucky to grow up in a culture of self assessment and questioning the world around you, which is being lost right now. My favourite music growing up was grunge, and grunge wasn't about being depressed, or hating the world, it was about taking a step back and questioning and learning about the world around you, not because you have to, but because you WANT to.

The more you learn as a person the more you will learn as a human and therefore as an artist, the rest doesn't matter.